Download Free Stock Photos and Illustrations
17
If you’ve been working with stock photo sites for a considerable time, you’re probably aware of the Free section available on these sites. In these sections, you can download a curated selection of high-quality photos and illustrations offered by stock photo sites free of charge.
However, there are still many people scouring the internet for quality free images that can be used legally, often wading through countless sites and not always with success.
For anyone interested in legally obtaining free photos and illustrations from stock photo sites, I’d like to share where and how to get high-quality free photos and illustrations.
Where to Download Free Stock Images?
Almost all the top stock photo sites offer a collection of free stock images from their portfolios. These collections of free photos and illustrations are updated daily on these platforms.
Of course, the quantity and selection of images in these collections are much smaller compared to the number of images available for purchase. Also, the quality of free images is generally lower.
As you might have guessed, the images available for free download are those that, for one reason or another, either don’t sell at all or sell very rarely, meaning buyers aren’t willing to pay for them. Although, there are exceptions.
But hey, if there’s a chance to get images for free, why not take it?
Many may be curious about why stock photo sites offer such free content. It’s simply a marketing tactic to attract new customers.
A person who comes to a stock site looking for free images and doesn’t find anything suitable might turn their attention to photos and illustrations available for purchase.
Or, after downloading something from the free section, a user might return to the same stock site when they need to purchase a photo or illustration in the future.
Additionally, it might interest you to know how free photos and illustrations benefit the contributors.
It’s quite practical: adding photos and illustrations to the free download section helps authors promote their portfolios. A person who wants to download a free photo or vector might become interested in the rest of the author’s portfolio and even make a purchase.
Also, by adding free images for download, the author slightly boosts their ranking on the stock photo site.
Moreover, this is another opportunity for contributors to earn. For example, Adobe Stock pays authors $0.50 for each photo or illustration added to the free download section.
The only restriction for authors when adding images is that only photos and illustrations listed in the author’s portfolio on Adobe Stock for at least two years without any sales can be added to the free section.
Another important detail: if an image fails inspection for commercial use, the author can attempt to submit it to the free image section. However, it will still undergo inspection, though it won’t need to wait two years as commercial images do.
For example, on Crestock, an author can submit an image for the free section and receive a one-time payment of $5. Each image, however, must be approved by Crestock inspectors.
On iStock, it’s also challenging to add images to the free section. There are many applicants, but only the best are accepted. If you want to add a photo or illustration to iStock’s free section, you must submit a request through their contact form and receive approval from their inspectors.
Since everything is free, it’s only logical that stock sites impose certain restrictions on the use of these free images, such as:
- Size limitations for the desired image
- Usage restrictions on free images
- Limits on the number of free images available for download, even though there may be more in the stock site’s free image library.
Currently, not all major stock sites offer free photos and illustrations for download. Free photo and illustration sections are available on sites like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, iStock, Dreamstime, 123RF, and Crestock.
As noted above, each stock site imposes certain restrictions on using images in the free section.
One more thing: to download images from the free section, you’ll need to register on the stock site. Below, I’ve included reviews of stock photo sites that offer free stock photos and illustrations.
How to Download Free Images from Shutterstock
Shutterstock allows users to download one free photo and one free illustration each week. However, there’s a catch – you won’t be able to choose the free image; Shutterstock selects the free photo and illustration of the week.
These free images are of excellent quality, selected in agreement with the image’s author.
To download free photos and illustrations from Shutterstock, as with other stock sites, you need to register as a buyer.
If you have questions about the registration process, refer to the information on registration for buyers on Shutterstock.
Additionally, you can download free photos and illustrations in any resolution and use them under standard Royalty-Free licensing conditions!
To view the free photos and illustrations available for download this week, simply visit the service’s homepage. The free photos and vectors of the week are displayed at the bottom left of the homepage.
Here is an example of a free photo from Shutterstock:
To download free illustrations and photos from Shutterstock, you will need to register. Read about the registration process on my blog in the Shutterstock section.
Free Images on Depositphotos
On Depositphotos, there is a significant collection of high-quality photos, vector illustrations, and videos available for free download.
The free section of this stock can be found here: Great Free Photos, Vectors, and Videos. Depositplaces no special size limits on free images, allowing downloads up to XL resolution for photos and vectors.
Videos are also available: you can download videos for free in resolutions from 240P to 1080P in standard MOV format under the regular license.
Here’s an example of a free photo from Depositphotos available at the time of writing:
To download these free photos, illustrations, and videos from Depositphotos, you will need to register and log in, as with other stocks.
Free Photos and Illustrations from Dreamstime
Dreamstime offers a large database of free photos and illustrations available for use, all in good quality.
The free section of Dreamstime is located here: Free Images. You can search for images by keywords in this section.
Keep in mind that search results will display both free and paid images, so if you find a paid image you like, you might decide to buy it.
Dreamstime places no size restrictions on free images, although there is a limit on the number of prints allowed for free images. Here’s an example of a free photo from Dreamstime:
To download free photos and illustrations from Dreamstime, remember to register on Dreamstime.
Free Downloads from iStockphoto
Starting with one of the most reputable stock sites, iStockphoto, free images are updated weekly in the free section.
There’s also an archive of free photos and illustrations on the iStock site, allowing you to download up to four free photos or illustrations. Registration is required to download, accessible via istоckphоtо.cоm.
The free images in this section are high-quality and offered under the standard Royalty-Free license. Here is an example of a free photo from iStockphoto:
To access free photos and illustrations on iStockphoto, be sure to register on this microstock.
Adobe Stock
The popular European stock site, Adobe Stock, offers an extensive database of free photos and illustrations that is continually updated with new images.
For photos and illustrations in the Adobe Stock free database, there are no size restrictions, and you can use chosen free images under the standard Royalty-Free license. However, you can download up to 16 free photos and illustrations daily.
Be sure to register on Adobe Stock by visiting their site. You can view images in the free database by navigating to the relevant section. Here’s an example of a free photo from Adobe Stock:
Don’t forget, to download images from Adobe Stock’s free database, you will need to register on this stock site.
Free Downloads from 123RF
The stock site 123 Royalty Free (123RF) also offers a large collection of free illustrations and photos. Many of the free images stand out for their good quality.
On 123 Royalty Free (123RF), photographers and illustrators decide which images to include in the free section and for how long the images remain available there.
There are also restrictions on free images. Free image size is limited to web resolution, and for printed copies, the number should not exceed 10,000.
Please note that the free image database on 123RF does not support keyword search. Therefore, images can only be selected by browsing them in sequence.
Again, to download stock photos and illustrations for free from 123 Royalty Free, you need to register on 123 Royalty Free (123RF) as a buyer via this link: http://www.123rf.com/. Here is an example of a free photo from 123 Royalty Free:
To download free stock photos and illustrations from 123 Royalty Free (123RF), please complete the registration process.
Download Free Images from Crestock
The Crestock stock site offers one free high-quality photo or vector illustration for download each day.
To stay updated on the images available for free download on Crestock, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of free images posted on the stock.
Please note that you can only download illustrations and photos for free from Crestock once per day. Here is an example of a free vector drawing from the microstock Crestock:
To access free photos and illustrations from Crestock, don’t forget to register.
This is a list of stock sites for free image downloads.
Of course, if you’re looking for something of high quality and uniqueness, it’s still better to buy photos and illustrations on stock sites. Naturally, free images from stock sites are downloaded by thousands of people, and using such images will not add much exclusivity, unlike paid photos and illustrations.
Additionally, stock sites usually include stock photos and illustrations in their free image databases that lack high commercial demand.
This article is also available for reading in the following categories: About Microstocks, 123RF, Dreamstime, Fotolia, Istockphoto, Shutterstock
I recently started my blog, but I faced the problem of where to find unique and high-quality images for my website. Moreover, they should also be related to the theme of my blog. But recently I accidentally stumbled upon this article. Thanks to it, I learned where to get high-quality images for the site for free!
In this article, the author explained well what free Russian and foreign photostocks exist, briefly characterizing each of the resources. Very useful article!
I usually download photos and vectors from Fotolia; there are a lot of free and new photos, and the interface is clear and convenient. So here it is.)
I have been working with Fotolia for a year; it’s a simple, user-friendly interface with quality and always new photos and vectors, and most importantly, it’s inexpensive! Everything a designer needs. Highly recommend)
Could you please tell me, I took illustrations from the photobank 123 Royalty Free (in the free photo section), and I am going to use them in the book layout. What should I indicate later in the book’s references? Should I mention the website from which I took the photo or list the authors of the illustrations? Also, are there any restrictions on their use other than a circulation of 10,000 copies? When downloading the photos, there were some sections: free license and others (multi)
Thank you in advance.
Oksana, the link http://ru.123rf.com/license.php?type=free lists all the usage conditions for free images.
Hello! I registered on the site httр://www.drеаmstimе.cоm/. How can I get photos for free now? They only offer paid ones.
Good afternoon, Marina!
Please log in to your account and go to the page http://www.dreamstime.com/free-images_pg1. There you will find a catalog of images for free download. Currently, there are 22,027 images in the catalog.
It comes from unique sources)))
I have a hunch about where it comes from
I can also recommend a new free one:
fotokanal.com
Dmitry, where does the fotokanal database come from?
How can I get free photos on 123?
Denis, after completing the registration, log in and go to the link http://www.123rf.com/freeimages.php. That’s where you can find the page to view free photos.
Here’s another stock photo site: files.tenpler.ru
Thank you for the article!!!! I wish I had come across it earlier. Still, better late than never 🙂
I hope the information will still be useful. 🙂